E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial aquatic herb from a thick large rhizome; stems thick, fleshy, submerged or emersed, 1-2 m long.

Leaves:
Floating or submerged, long-stalked, the stalks 1-2 m long, appearing alternate from the rhizome, blades heart-shaped, 10-40 cm long, 6-30 cm wide, leathery.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of solitary, large, waxy, floating flowers on long stalks arising from the rhizome; petals yellow (with reddish or greenish tinges), 10-20, smaller than the sepals and the numerous yellow or reddish-purple stamens; sepals usually 6 or 9, 2.5-6 cm long, the outer greenish and shorter than the inner yellow ones, thick.

Fruits:
Berry-like capsules, oval, leathery, rupturing irregularly; seeds numerous in a jelly-like seed mass, the seeds 4-5 mm long.

Notes:
Two species occur in BC:

1. Sepals usually 6, 2.5-3.5 cm long; stamens yellow; seeds about 5 mm long................... N. variegata (Durand) Beal

1. Sepals usually 9, (3) 3.5-6 cm long; stamens reddish or purplish; seeds about 4 mm long................... N. polysepala (Engelm.) Beal